D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Infinite Staircase?

[plecostomus]

A couple more questions:

Module 1 / The Lost City
My Lv3 party is approaching the "boss" of the 4th floor, a banshee.

The party's current HPs and CON saves:

• 19 HP +1 CON
• 23 HP +1 CON
• 27 HP +2 CON
• 21 HP +3 CON (the sidekick)

The 2024 version of Deathly Wail:

• Deathly Wail (1/Day). The banshee releases a mournful wail if it isn’t in sunlight. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 13, each creature within 30 feet that can hear the wail and isn’t a Construct or an Undead. Failure: If the target has 25 Hit Points or fewer, it drops to 0 Hit Points. Otherwise, the target takes 10 (3d6) Psychic damage.

There's more to the fight than Deathly Wail, but I think it makes sense to lead with it in case some PCs drop immediately and the others want to run away. The party has a ton of NPC allies upstairs they could regroup with or even recruit to help, if they think of it.

The players currently know the king's crypt is haunted, but are unaware that the haunting is a banshee. I described the banshee's old room as being filled with icy mist, and when they examined her old coffin they heard distant crying. This is more than the module's room description gives players, but it still didn't prompt them to ask what kind of monster causes these effects.

The party also rolled the random encounter for 2 guards (CR 1/8) to help them just beforehand, but I didn't introduce the guards before session end. My players are also very familiar with "environmental storytelling mosaics" and various other lore dumps in this dungeon. I have options to give them further warnings, even though they are in the hallway to the banshee's room.

I could introduce the guards (or maybe a more fun stat block) if only some PCs survive, and let the players whose PCs went down play the guards till they get new characters or the situation resolves in some other way. This avoids the players getting dropped at the start of the session and then not having anything to do.

I'm also considering my options in the event of a TPK.

So general question: Do you (in this module or otherwise) usually try to warn players about banshees, or does death by banshee work better as a surprise?

Module 2 / When A Star Falls
The garrison in the Tower of the Heavens is stocked entirely by gnomes who use the Guard statblock. Did anyone add Gnomish Cunning to the Guard statblock when they ran this module? Two of the other dungeons (the Forge and Derro Lair) in this module are also populated by creatures with advantage on Saves frequently used for spells, so it might be better to let the casters relax here. I am just fond of gnomes as funny little magical guys.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So general question: Do you (in this module or otherwise) usually try to warn players about banshees, or does death by banshee work better as a surprise?

It depends somewhat on the situation, but in the particular circumstances you describe I would allow the players to make a Religion skill check (DC 15) to identify the creature ahead as a banshee and know that "it's deathly wail instantly kills anyone who hears it" (no need for the players to know it's nerfed unless it actually comes up in combat). Then the players may think of taking the precaution of blocking their ears. Winning sharpish because a PC was knowledgeable makes for a better narrative than a scrappy fight involving NPCs (frankly, I would have them run away in panic rather than help anyway). Of course if the PCs block their ears the players will need to communicate with each other non-verbally.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Did anyone add Gnomish Cunning to the Guard statblock when they ran this module?

I haven't run the adventure, but I do tend to customise stat blocks so I probably would if I thought it was likely to crop up in a fight. I would look at their gear to make sure it was suitably gnomish as well.

I don't know if you have the free DDB supplement "Dragonlance Creatures" but I would be inclined to replace some of the generic NPC statblocks with Nevermind Gnome stat blocks. They are more fun and fit the tone of the adventure.